1. Field of Technology
The invention relates to a user interface in a TV production environment. More specifically, the invention relates to a method, a system, and a protocol, designed to enable a non co-located media professional (e.g., a director or producer) to direct the “gaze position” of the subject whose image is captured by the camera (i.e., the direction of the focus of the subject's visual sense or the direction in which the subject is looking) or the distance between the camera and subject, such that the camera can capture a visually appealing image.
2. Background Art
One scenario of TV production is an interview situation, in which a subject to be interviewed is physically in a location different than the interviewer's location. While it is quite common that the interviewers are media professionals who know how to physically appear in a way that is pleasing to the TV viewer, this is not necessarily the case for the interviewed subject. Accordingly, it can be helpful if media professionals (e.g., an interviewer, a producer, or a director) could provide the subject with hints on viewer-pleasing behavior. Alternatively, or in addition, it would be helpful if providing those hints could be automated.
Two areas of interest are the subject's “gaze” or “gaze position”, i.e., the direction in which the subject looks, and the distance between the subject and the camera pickup location. On TV, an interview situation attempts to emulate and appropriately capture a direct conversation between, for example, an interviewer, a subject, and a TV viewer. Eye contact between all three entities is important for a visually pleasing experience for the TV viewer. Accordingly, the subject's gaze should be directed to the interviewer and the capturing camera. Similarly, it is visually pleasing if the subject's head or face is reproduced to convey the impression of a distance between the TV viewer and the subject that is neither too close (violating the “comfort space” of the TV viewer, which can depend, for example, on the TV viewer's cultural background) nor too far away (creating the impression of explicit distancing or remoteness). If the interviewer is physically present in the same location as the interviewer, neither goal is difficult to achieve. However, when the interviewer is located at a remote location (e.g., located in another studio), it can be necessary to provide a non media-professional subject with hints to direct his/her gaze appropriately, and to keep a certain distance from the camera.
In studio environments, gaze, distance, and similar control can be provided by many different mechanisms. For example, a human technician can direct the gaze of the subject by moving the camera's physical position, or by gesturing to the subject to direct his/her gaze in a certain way. One example of a technical mechanism is the “on air” light that a studio TV camera can have on its casing. Dedicated lights can also be used to direct the gaze of the subject. A subject can be advised and trained before the interview, for example, to always focus on the “on air” light that many studio cameras include, or on a dedicated light used for this purpose. Cameras, under the control of professional operators, can also be moved to capture the most pleasing visual angle. As for distance control, camera zooming under the control of a professional operator is one approach in a studio environment.
An area of interest relating to a subject's gaze involves tracking the viewing direction of the subject's eyes, for example, by observing the iris in relation to the rest of the head or face, or by identifying the head or face of the subject in relation to other body parts and the background. Head and eye tracking mechanisms and algorithms have been previously studied widely. For introductory material, see, for example, Salvucci, Goldberg, “Identifying fixations and saccades in eye-tracking protocols”, Proceedings of the 2000 symposium on Eye tracking research & applications, pp. 71-78, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., United States, SBN:1-58113-280-8, also available from http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=355028, and references therein.